One of the most appealing aspects of the Coachella Music Festival is to geek out over who’s playing and who’s not playing while trying to convince other people why they should go see, say, Yann Tierson instead of Gorillaz.

So, rather than pontificating on the merits of Fever Ray, King Khan or Baroness, I’ll turn the blog over to some other tastemakers who’ll tell us what performers you should check out – even if you don’t go to Indio this weekend. Thank you, Mark “Dr. Rock” Harris, KPCC AirTalk intern Gina Delvac, freelance journalist Dan Ucko and San Francisco Bay Area high school senior Julia Paleski.

Muse: “Eh, Muse is good in their own way, though not impressive live since there's only 3 of ‘em and they use prerecorded sounds.”

“Feel “meh” about Muse.”

Thom Yorke: “Flea (who is playing bass with Yorke) on stage is always a good thing.”

This afternoon, Coachella organizers announced they will be selling “a limited amount of VIP Tickets” for the sold-out festival at the Glass House Record store in Pomona. The shop is co-owned by Coachella founder Paul Tollett. The announcement continues, “tickets will be $650, cash only, two ticket limit.” So, that’s more than double what you would pay for a 3-day pass through Ticketmaster - if it had any left. And what do you get for that, ahem, “price adjustment”? Well according to ehow.com, you get: access to “a separate VIP area near the main stage where there's a full bar…better food vendors, comfortable lounge areas…an elevated area with a side view of the main stage…private bathrooms.” It doesn’t get you an audience with Thom Yorke, Jay-Z or that guy in Muse. Or free food, booze, sunscreen or a giant “We’re #1!” sponge hand. But hey, clean bathrooms! Oh, and you get to act like an arrogant jerk around your way cooler friends who just jumped a fence and got in for free anyway.

About 30 minutes into Jay-Z’s headlining performance at Coachella Friday, the veteran rapper might be in the awkward position of having to have to tell the kids to “turn it down!” That’s because of the noise emanating from the neighboring outdoor stage. It will be shaking with the bass heavy post-punk groove of John Lydon’s reformed Public Image Limited. Lydon aka Johnny Rotten is the guy who frequently sneered about wanting to “destroy” music. What the Sex Pistol front man actually did with PiL, starting in 1978, was reinvigorate alternative music and turn mere punk rock into something artier, funkier and possibly more menacing.

So, you put off shelling out that $300 for weekend Coachella festival passes hoping it wouldn’t sell out. Well, it sold out. Organizers confirmed that this morning with a simple, but firm message: “NO MORE TIX…SORRY None left anywhere.” They also announced set times for all performers.

There is at Coachella a deep & abiding love, maybe even a fetish, for Indie rock icons of 80’s and 90’s; veteran performers who still pack a lot of cred and whose influence hotwires a couple generations of young bands. Now that most of those iconic bands have already graced Coachella stages, some more than once, the way-back machine finds itself traveling back even further, to Woodstock and beyond.

After acclaimed performances by Paul McCartney and Roger Waters, organizers are starting to dig deep into the 60’s and 70’s to find those artists who’s influence still casts a long shadow. This weekend we have much anticipated performances by Sly Stone and Gil Scott Heron.

Word is the festival is very close to selling out. According to organizers, single day tickets will only be available at the box office on the show dates - unless the festival sells out in advance. So, if you want to secure tickets now you have to shell out about $300 for a 3-day pass. Cheaper if you can avoid the roughly $40 in “convenience” and other fees that Ticketmaster tacks onto each pass. However, 3-day passes minus all the fees may still be available at some bricks and mortar locations like the Glass House record shop in Pomona. Check the festival website for ticket locations and lineup updates.

Time is also running out for Coachella organizers to spring those last minute, stage stealing headliners on us. Otherwise, the main stage may be as exciting as watching Morrissey wretch mid-song (2009) or a headline set by Jack Johnson (2008). Well, ok maybe not that bad, but…